2022 Color of the Year

Every fall, design and paint companies announce their choices for Color of the Year. As I’ve come to learn, brands spend a significant portion of the calendar year making their selections, and color experts arrive at these decisions by looking for global trends in fashion, design, and art as well as socio-economic or political conditions impacting our world. Influences may also include new materials, textiles, or fabrics that impact color. In turn, these color selections become a forecast for what we will likely see in new products, clothing, and home interior trends for the upcoming year. 

As someone who lives for design and color, I eagerly await these announcements. It usually goes something like this: one company selects a vibrant blue, another one chooses a warm terracotta, while another picks a subdued rosy pink for their color of the year … and we end up with a dizzying rainbow of colors that honestly don’t really relate to each other. 

Except this year something different happened: six of nine major paint brands all chose their version of green, citing the overwhelming need for renewal and growth in our quasi-post-pandemic life. The variety that made the list — including Laurel Leaf by Better Homes & Gardens, Guacamole by Glidden, and October Mist by Benjamin Moore — is a refreshing and welcoming palette to this lover of the color green. Hands down, however, my favorite selection is Sherwin-Williams’s Evergreen Fog.

Evergreen Fog is a soothing grayish green that is restorative yet sophisticated and a perfect complement to the Scandinavian and organic modern interior design styles trending today. “Evergreen Fog inspires us to begin again and is a great choice for modern interiors and exteriors,” said Sue Wadden, director of color marketing at Sherwin-Williams.

Of the many reasons that Evergreen Fog tops my list has to do with how beautifully it pairs with natural materials like wood, leather, jute, and rattan as well as a classic palette of black and white. It also coordinates well with warm, earthy neutrals, such as beige, camel, or coffee and looks stunning with brass or matte black finishes.  

Not ready to paint your entire room in green? Try updating an entry way or kitchen island with this organic, earthy color. Still not ready to commit to paint? You can still bring the outside in by adding a variety of plants and succulents or incorporating green in artwork and pillows to your home.

So, what inspired so many companies to pick green for 2022? I’m guessing it has something to do with the fact that green is associated with renewal, growth, health, and hope, and in our post-pandemic world I’ll take an extra dose of green for the New Year! 

Christine Cowles is owner of Styled & Staged Santa Barbara, offering home staging and interior styling services. She is a certified Staging Design Professional™, member of Santa Barbara Association of Realtors and Real Estate Staging Association, and a proud WEV graduate. She can be reached at info@styledandstagedsb.com.

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